Wake up at 5:30AM.
5:30AM-6:15AM: Generally spent washing clothes in Rio Napo.
6:15AM-7:00AM: Breakfast. Usually a combination of rice, eggs, bread, plantain, and of course, guayusa.*
7:05AM-3:30PM: Off to work at Sinchi Warm. There is no such thing as an average day at Sinchi Warmi. Potential activities include:
- Organizing our artisanship displays.
- Jungle Walks! Learning about indigenous practices with native plants.
- Occasionally translating for non-Spanish speaking tourists.
- Cleaning the cabanas.
- Feeding TING-TING! Sinchi’s pet huatusa.
- AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
3:30PM-4:30PM: I can mostly likely be found swimming in Rio Napo.
4:30PM-5:30PM: Lounging with family.
6:00PM: Dinner. Most likely a combination of soup, rice, yuca, chicken, or fish.
7:00PM: Futbol in the cancha.
8:00PM: Return to Rio Napo for the 3rd and final time of the day to bathe.
9:00PM: Lights Out.
* Guayusa, pronounced [way-yusa] in Kichwa, is a tree native to the Ecuadorian Amazonian Rainforest and is one of three known caffeinated trees. In the Kichwa community where I live, people drink guayusa similarly to the way Americans drink coffee. It also contains theobromine, an ingredient commonly found in chocolate, which has been said to reduce both physical and mental stress. If you aren’t sold on the wonders of guayusa by now just wait, BECAUSE THERE IS MORE: one cup of guayusa contains nearly double the antioxidants found in a cup of green tea! Fancy yourself some guayusa? Ask your local organic grocery outlet about Runa Tea.
